The present invention relates to a system and a method for automatically setting virtual LAN configuration information, and in particular, to a system and a method for automatically setting virtual LAN configuration information of a virtual LAN which is constructed by Ethernet port groups (each of which is composed of one or more Ethernet ports which have been selected from Ethernet ports in a switching hub) and LECs (LAN Emulation Clients) which are used in LANE (LAN Emulation).
Description of the Prior Art
Various kinds of communication methods or communication services have been proposed due to development and enlargement of information communication techniques of these days. Especially, LANs (Local Area Networks) which are constructed by connecting a plurality of computers together are widely utilized in various fields. Such LANs of these days employs a concept which is called "virtual LAN" (VLAN: Virtual Local Area Network). The VLAN has functions for arbitrarily and logically grouping terminals (or nodes) which are connected to switching hubs, thereby a LAN having desired connection can be virtually constructed regardless of real physical connection of the terminals. Therefore, the VLAN has advantages of being able to reduce unnecessary traffic and ensure security.
However, when a network administrator tries to employ the functions of the VLAN for a LAN, conventional switching hubs which can support the functions of the VLAN involves the following drawbacks.
The VLAN can be utilized for constructing virtual LAN segments at a low cost, by grouping terminals logically. The virtual LAN segment is composed of various elements such as Ethernet ports, IP subnets, ELANs (Emulated LANs), etc. which are linked together. Therefore, VLAN configuration information setting procedure which has to be executed by the network administrator tends to be highly complicated, and thus network administrators are required considerable amount of effort for constructing a VLAN.